Broken
by Kjpanny Kjchristie17
Summary: A tragic act forces the Rurouni to break his vow of never killing. With the emergence of the Battousai, will the legendary assassin be able to heal Kaoru's broken spirit?


The red haired individual sat on the porch, his back leaning against the wooden pillar, his knee drawn up, his sword resting against it. His eyes were half masted, lazy. The lethargy was due to the heat, one would assume. In the midst of summer, with a warm breeze blowing, the porch was the best place to take refuse.

A childish laugh made the swordsman look towards the gate. A little child with bright red hair pushed open the gate, laughing gleefully. Her violet eyes turned laughingly in his direction and she stilled. He gazed at her for a few seconds before a half smile curled the corner of his mouth.

"Tou-san!"

She rushed towards him and he reached out his arm to grab her by her waist and fling her in the air towards himself. She fell on his lap upside down and then hearing her father's deep chuckles, burst into giggles.

An admonishing voice caught the red haired man's attention, "Kenshin, how many times do I have to tell you not to do that?"

Golden eyes blinked languidly and his head tilted, a _different _smile for his wife. Hands on her hips, she frowned at him.

"Kimiko did not mind, did you, little one?" He looked at his giggling daughter for confirmation.

The three year old nodded her head as her father put her in an upright position and settled her in his lap in a more comfortable position. The child looked towards her mother and scolded her, "Kaa-san don't scold Tou-san. Kimiko love Tou-san."

Kaoru sighed, "It's too hot to get into an argument with either of you. I'm going to go take a bath." She glanced at her daughter, "Keep an eye on your Tou-san." A glare was directed towards Kenshin, "And you, _behave._"

Kenshin gave that infuriating lazy smirk, "When have I done so otherwise."

A thousand and one scenarios coming to mind, Kaoru kept quiet, mindful of her innocent daughter. With one more warning smirk towards her suspiciously quiet husband, she made her way to the bath house.

She chose not to heat the water and after taking off her clothes, sank into the refreshingly cold water, sighing in relief. The cool water felt so good against her skin. Closing her eyes, she sank deeper and drifted into her thoughts.

It could have been hours or mere minutes, but Kaoru's eyes opened to meet a pair of amused golden ones. She let out a shriek which her husband patiently muffled with his hand.

"I just put the little one to bed. You don't want to wake her up now, do you?"

Kaoru scowled and pushed away his hand, sitting up straight. When Kenshin's interested gaze moved downwards, she immediately sank back into the water. However, he seemed content in doing nothing but sitting next to the huge tub, playing idly with the water.

After a few minutes of silence, in which Kaoru realized her husband wasn't going anywhere anytime soon, she sank back into the water, closing her eyes. She felt him tug at her hair and let him play with her hair to his heart's content. It was a serene atmosphere, till the soft rustle of clothing made her open her eyes.

Kenshin was disrobing.

"I am _not _sharing my bath with you. The last time I did, you didn't let me relax."

The heated look she got at those words made her blush and turn away, crossly. However in seconds, she was being lifted and her husband sank in behind her, settling her against himself. Feeling his _interest_ poking at her, she ignored it, though a familiar tingling was forming in her lower stomach.

However, he was simply silent, holding her to him. She sighed and leaned back against him. They shared a tranquil moment and she wandered off into her thoughts.

Her husband was so different from that soft and gentle rurouni she had been accustomed to. His eyes had changed from that beautiful violet to a lethal golden color. The minute her rurouni had lifted his sword to slay the man who had - she shook her head, the pain still present in her mind. He had changed then. When she had barred herself away from the public, away from her friends, _he _had refused to let her be.

She had been ashamed of herself, scrubbing at her skin for hours and hours on end to get off that taint. The rurouni had noticed the bruises on her skin, and had turned pale, his violet eyes flashing golden. However, the next time she had entered the bath house and started to cleanse herself, he had stopped her. She had been naked, scared of anything remotely male, and had scrambled away from him, her mind broken. However, he had ignored her cries to get away from her, and taken a clean washcloth and wiped away the blood from her body, had washed her with quiet determination.

When she had realized that he was not hurting her, that his touch didn't linger anywhere, she had grown quiet and subdued and had let him clothe her in his own robe. He had put her in her bed, and fed her with his own hands, all the while those golden eyes not moving away from her. Her eyes had been watchful and she hadn't protested when he had stayed in her room, leaning against the very door _that man _had come in from. With the Battousai protecting her, she had closed her eyes, and gone to sleep with no nightmares.

However, he was the only male she allowed near her. The touch of any other made her skittish. Her mind had been broken in those three days of captivity in her own home.

She remembered the blood splattering on Kenshin's clothes when he had pulled his word, flipped it and removed that man's head in a clean swipe. His eyes had been golden then too. The rage in them had been so absolute, his fury so vast, his helplessness reflecting in his eyes. He had fallen to his knees, not the rurouni, but the Battousai, and held her to him. She had screamed, begging him not to touch her, to stay away, but there had been a broken look in those eyes, a crazed look.

It was Megumi who had finally forced him away from the young female. She had thrown him out and Sano made him stay away from Kaoru. However, his Master had to be called to restrain him, so desperate was he. She remembered hearing Master Hiko talk to his apprentice. His voice had been harsher than she could recall, however at the time she had been too far gone to take notice.

It was once she had started recovering that she noticed the small changes. Kenshin's eyes had permanently changed color. His voice had become lower, somewhat deeper. He had become quieter, more watchful. For some odd reason, these change had made her feel safer.

Six months after the attack, she had noticed another change in him. He would leave her small gifts around the house, gifts that made Master Hiko smile arrogantly, like his apprentice was finally doing something he approved of. Kenshin's master had moved in with them for a while. Of course, once they got married, he had left back for his cabin, claiming that the dojo was too restricting.

Kenshin's, or should she say, the Battousai's courtship was very strange. However, he never touched her inappropriately. It had taken her a year to accept, more like becoming worn out under his ruthless pursuit. He made her feel safe, made her smile. Although her cheerful smile had now diminished, they had been replaced with quiet ones.

She had lost her temper one day when she had found her favorite blue hair ribbon in tatters and a golden one in its place. His arrogant statement that it matched his eyes, had made her hit her with her bokken. Both of them had realized in the silence that followed that it was the first time since the attack since she had lifted her bokken. She accepted his suit.

He had not let her change her mind, dragging her to the nearest temple to get married within a day. He cared nothing for society's rules and norms. He did as he pleased and struck fear in the hearts of those who dared to tell him otherwise.

Their first child, Kenji, had fought against his father for his mother's attention. Their daughter had wrapped her father around her finger. However, Kenshin had put aside his vow of never killing again. His family was everything to him, and he would gladly shed blood to protect it.

So many years, she mused. The scars were still there, but tempered with age and love.

"Kaoru?"

That sinful voice made her blink, "Did I fall asleep?"

He chuckled, "As if I would let you." He placed a hand on her womb and rubbed it gently, "So, what did Megumi say?"

She jumped, guiltily, "What? Who said I'd gone to Megumi?"

She could feel his lips curve into a smile against her shoulder, "I knew."

Rolling her eyes, she let out a gasp when he pulled her form tightly against his own, molding her to him, and nibbling on her shoulder.

"Ah, she said," She tried not to moan when he moved to her neck.

"Yes?"

He was making it harder and harder to think with his hand roaming over her body. He could be so unfair at times.

"How far along are you?"

She stiffened, trying to turn around to meet a serious golden gaze, "You knew?"

"Of course I did."

She let him kiss her. "I wanted it to be a surprise, you jerk."

He grinned, impishly, "I enjoyed you trying to sneak around me." His tone was mild as he nipped at her fingers, "It was cute."

She dug those very fingers into his ribs, making him wince, "You could have at least pretended."

He turned her around, so that she was straddling him now.

She let out a soft moan as he got serious and decided to take full advantage of this position.

Outside, Kenji entered through the gate, Yahiko at his heels. Hearing some noise from the bathhouse, he made his way there, only to be grabbed by a red faced Yahiko, who dragged him back out the gate.

"You _do not _want to go there, right now. Trust me."

A.N:I don't like this story. I DO NOT. I just wrote it because I felt like it.

Haters gonna hate.

Potatoes gonna potate.


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